Watching You
by One-Hundred Percent Juice
Summary: Every day for his physical education class, Arthur wouldn't dress out. Instead, he would sit on the bleachers and watch his classmates play. Well, watch his best friend Alfred, anyway. It was fun... when his crazy girlfriend wasn't in the way. USUK, AU.
1. I'm Watching You

**A/N: Yo. I'm sorry, I really shouldn't be starting a multi-chapter fic when I haven't finished The Most Awesome Dream Ever... but this came to mind when I was in P.E., and it was begging to be written. I'm sorry! TToTT I hope you enjoy it, anyway...**

**Title: Watching You**

**Characters (so far): America, England, Belarus (Human names used)**

**Pairings: BelarusxAmerica, AmericaxEngland, more pairings possible in later chapters**

**Rating: T, for language and other minor things.**

**Full summary:_ Every day for his physical education class, Arthur wouldn't dress out. Instead, he would sit on the bleachers and watch his classmates play. Well, watch his best friend Alfred, anyway. It was fun... when his crazy girlfriend Natalia wasn't in the way. Now _she_ was scary._**

**Word count: 4,100**

**Disclaimer: Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.**

**

* * *

**

**Watching You**

Small trails of sweat flowed down his oh-so-slightly tanned face, trailing along his strong jaw and sleek neck. His muscles flexed and revealed themselves under his pale shirt, which was slightly sticking to him due to the humidity, as he flicked his wrists in a perfect movement. The basketball went flying through the air and landed in the basket, as it usually did.

Arthur shifted in his seat on the cold gym bleachers, uncomfortable in his tan slacks. It was so hot inside he could feel his own bum begin to sweat. When would the school bother to fix the air conditioning in the gymnasium? It was really grating at Arthur's nerves.

He tried to ignore the heat as much as he possibly could and returned to watching the basketball game. Well, actually, just watching his best friend. It had become a habit of his; he wouldn't change for his physical education class, so he would be ordered to sit on the bleachers and watch the others play. Arthur didn't mind being left out, rather the opposite. He enjoyed watching the rest of his classmates play sports. He would continuously watch his friend Alfred throughout the entire game of whatever sport they were playing that week. He would observe him, taking in all the little things he had never noticed before. He noticed how long Alfred's fingers were; he memorized how Alfred's body would move when he ran. At first, Arthur had come to believe he had turned into some sort of freak that got a kick out of watching other boys sweat. But no, he later learned that wasn't the case at all. He only liked watching Alfred. Everyone else bored him, even none of the girls seemed to catch his interest. He was just curious, was all.

As Alfred was getting high-fives from his teammates, he caught Arthur's gaze and stopped to wave at his friend. Arthur blushed at being caught staring and tried to pretend he hadn't seen the other blond. Alfred frowned and waved again, this time by flailing his arms around like a madman. Arthur tried not to laugh at his friend's idiocy, but he couldn't hold it in. He chuckled, his cheeks tinting to a darker shade of pink, and sent a nod Alfred's way. Alfred stuck out his tongue at him in return, before turning back to the game.

"What an idiot," Arthur muttered, the faintest hint of the remainder of a smile on his face. For as long as he had known Alfred, the boy had been known to be a git. After ten long years, he had scarcely changed. Yes, his body had developed very well, but his mind was still full of the childish ideas and beliefs of the seven year old boy Arthur had first met. He wasn't necessarily stupid, no. His grades were dent enough, as proved by his last progress report, which he had been bragging about for the entire week. But Alfred was still an idiot in Arthur's mind. He always would be.

A shrill beep, the eight-minute bell, rang throughout the gymnasium. The players immediately halted their game and started towards the locker room. The girls in the class had been separated from the boys for a day, for a reason the teacher hadn't specified. For Arthur, it didn't make any difference, since he didn't have many lady friends anyway. The girl he was closest to was his friend Sey, a cheery girl, tan from spending so much time on a tropical island ,that loved seafood. She had taken physical education over the summer, so she didn't even have a P.E. class. Arthur had thought about taking the course over the summer as well, but he had been too busy with babysitting his little brother and work. In the end, he was glad he hadn't missed out on the chance to see Alfred play a variety of sports… it was so intriguing… how his muscles moved… the way his facial expressions changed so quickly…

Arthur jumped as an arm was slung around his shoulders and a pair of warm lips was pressed to his ear.

"Hey Artie!" Alfred shouted, unaware that he was putting his best friend in danger of becoming deaf. "Did you see how I rocked in the BB game today? I was the total hero, man!"

Arthur blushed and pushed his friend away. His cheeks reddened even more when he felt the slightest hint of sweat seeping through Alfred's shirt. "How many times have I told you not to scream in my ear, you bloody git?" Arthur wiped his hands on his trousers and fixed his dark green sweater vest, the one he had bought because the saleswoman had told him it complimented his eyes.

"Haha, apparently not enough!"Alfred laughed and held the locker room door open for the Brit, who simply glared at him as he entered the facility. "And anyway, I'm your git. I'm allowed to do that kind of crap."

Arthur tried to ignore the possible meaning behind Alfred's words and proceeded to his locker, avoiding any physical contact with the other boys in his class. Since his locker was near Arthur's, Alfred followed close behind, high-fiving a couple of guys along the way. When Alfred was beside him once again as they opened their lockers, Arthur resumed the conversation. "No, you're not. Peter's my git. I can't choose whether I want him or not. But with you, I can."

"Pfft! I was your git first!" Alfred chuckled as he pulled his clothes out of his locker. Since Arthur hadn't bothered to change, he pulled out his sole schoolbag instead. He slung the leather strap over his shoulder and rolled his eyes at Alfred.

"What are you talking about? Peter's twelve. That's two years more than the time we've known each other."

"That's your fault! You moved here two years too late!" Alfred defended, as he pulled off his P.E. shirt. Arthur blushed and turned to look away from his shirtless friend.

"I had no say in the move! I didn't even want to come here in the first place!" Arthur huffed and crossed his arms across his chest and turned back around to face a fully clothed Alfred. Alfred laughed and threw his arm around his grumpy British friend's shoulders as they walked out of the boy's locker room.

"But you're glad you moved here, amirite?" Alfred asked, pulling a large bag of Cheetos out of his backpack.

Arthur ignored the other boy's question and pushed him away roughly. "Ugh, you stink!"

"Eh, I didn't feel like taking a shower today," Alfred confessed. He shoved a couple handfuls of Cheetos into his mouth and shrugged.

"That's disgusting!" Arthur jumped away from Alfred and raised his hands defensively.

"Geez, dude, calm down." Alfred waved his hand dismissively and threw his Cheetos bag away. He shrugged. "I took a shower last night."

"Still! You're all sweaty and you smell terrible!" Arthur pinched his nose and began breathing through his mouth. He was exaggerating, but it was fun to see Alfred's flustered face.

"Hey! I don't smell that bad!"

"Says the boy who reeks."

Alfred stuck his tongue out at Arthur, and as they turned the corner, he looked ahead and smirked. "I'll show you I don't smell that bad!" Arthur was about to ask what he meant but stopped at the unmistakable sound of high heels approaching. He looked up into a cold mix of blue and violet eyes and immediately wished he hadn't. The girl walked up to the two friends confidently, her long platinum blond hair flowing behind her. Arthur suddenly felt like stabbing someone.

The girls stopped in front of Alfred and put her finger to her pale cheek. He obliged and kissed said cheek, causing her to giggle. Arthur wanted to gag.

"Wassup, Natia?" Alfred greeted her, patting her on the back. She gave him a soft glare, receiving a chuckle from him and a shiver from Alfred.

"Hello, Alfred." She smiled sweetly at the taller blond before turning stiffly to the next. "Arthur," she said, as if his name was some sort of disease.

Arthur ignored her tone of voice and chose not to confront her about it. It was an obvious that Natalia hated Arthur, but he didn't know why. He considered himself a decent enough chap, so what was there to hate? "Natalia," Arthur replied, just as coldly. Arthur had to admit he was afraid of his best friend's girlfriend. Just a bit. She rarely showed what she was feeling, which was downright creepy. The only time Arthur had seen Natalia express her feelings was when Alfred forgot their six-month anniversary a couple of weeks ago and she landed into violent rage. She began to throw knives. At Arthur.

"Hey, Natia, do I smell?" Alfred asked the girl, pulling on his hoodie, trying to let her get a whiff. Natalia subtly backed away from him and crinkled her nose.

"You do have… a bit of an odor," she admitted. Alfred looked crestfallen that Natalia had agreed with Arthur. Arthur smirked, causing Natalia to swiftly glare at him. He squeaked and stepped away from her. Alfred noticed none of the interaction, distracted by the bell, and due to his incapability to read the atmosphere.

"Woot! School's out!" Alfred did a fist pump in the air as students rushed by the three seniors. Natalia and Arthur rolled their eyes simultaneously then quickly turned to glared at each other.

"Ah, Alfred," Natalia began, "I was wondering if you wanted to come to my house today so we could possibly watch a movie?" Arthur would've seen nothing wrong with the invitation if she had just flat out asked, but the way she was looking at Alfred really ticked him off. Not only that, Natalia was twirling a lock of her hair around one of her dainty fingers, something Arthur had never seen her do. He also did not miss the inclusion of the word, "possibly." Bloody hell? They were _possibly_ going to watch a movie? If they didn't, what would they end up doing, huh? Arthur quickly shook his head. He was looking too much into it. Either way, it was Alfred and his girlfriend, and they could do whatever they wanted to do. It's not like Arthur cared anyway. He didn't care at all.

"Oh, sorry, Nat! I kinda got a thing with Artie tonight!" Alfred pointed at the Brit standing next to him, who had been lost in his thoughts until he heard his name.

"We have plans?" Arthur asked, honestly not recalling any plans he and Alfred had possibly made.

"Yeah! Remember?" Alfred got close to Arthur's ear and whispered the rest. "I am so gonna kick your ass at video games tonight."

Arthur's cheeks reddened from the contact, the feel of Alfred's hot breath in his ear, and the comment itself. He finally remembered what Alfred had been talking about. Alfred had bought a new game a couple days before, and since he believed he had no chance at beating their mutual friend Kiku in it, he convinced Arthur play with him. Arthur had to admit video games weren't his specialty, but he wasn't that bad! Natalia narrowed her eyes at Arthur, whose ear was still in contact with Alfred's lips. Arthur noticed and pushed his friend away, satisfying Natalia.

"I remember now. We do have plans. I'm sorry, Natalia." Arthur apologized, not really meaning it at all. In reality, he wanted to gloat that Alfred had chosen him over her. He didn't because he knew what dangers that could lead to, including a severed arm or a broken rib.

"Yeah, Natia, maybe some other time, 'k?" Alfred gave Natalia a quick hug and returned to Arthur's side, much to the girl's chagrin. Arthur nodded a goodbye to Natalia and headed to the school exit, satisfied to hear Alfred's footsteps close behind. As Alfred caught up to Arthur and slung his arm around him again, the Brit turned one last time to glance at Natalia. The girl hadn't moved, but was glaring at Arthur so intensely that he could almost feel the daggers hitting his back. He shrugged it off and looked back ahead. For the moment, he had Alfred's arm to protect him anyway.

* * *

Once they arrived at Alfred's house, said blond headed straight to his living room and turned on his game console, leaving Arthur alone in the doorway. He rolled his eyes and headed to the bathroom upstairs. He knew Alfred so well that the American's house was practically his own. It was the same for Alfred and Arthur's house. They knew each other's homes as well as they knew each other. This wasn't surprising, since they had been best friends and neighbors for ten whole years.

Arthur entered the clean washroom and quickly closed the door behind him. He rushed to the toilet and undid his pants in a hurry. Oh, how he had been holding it in! He took a deep breath and relieved himself, after holding it in for a couple of hours. He refused to use school bathrooms. They were unsanitary!

Arthur zipped his pants back up and flushed, something he continuously had to remind Alfred to do. He headed to the white marble sink and turned the faucet handle. The water began rushing out, cold to Arthur's fingers. He reached for the soap, and was appalled to see that it wasn't there. He turned off the faucet and looked around for the soap. After a couple of minutes, he made the conclusion that there was no soap in Alfred's bathroom. How irritating.

"Alfred!" Arthur called. He was definitely not going to leave the bathroom with germ-infested hands. He could make the whole household sick. "Alfred!" he called again. His eyebrows furrowed. Why wasn't Alfred answering? He stoped for a second and suddenly heard gunshots from bellow, followed by Alfred's victory chant. Ah, he was busy playing his video game, of course. Arthur guessed he probably hadn't heard him. Arthur decided to take a risk and look for some soap outside of the bathroom. If he spread an illness, it was Alfred to blame.

He ventured out of the bathroom and went to the little closet near the staircase. He gingerly pulled it open and glanced inside. "Aha!" Arthur muttered as he pulled out a small package of Dove soap. His hopes were dashed when he noticed how light it was. He took a closer look and realized it was empty. Frustrated, he threw the small box to the ground, but quickly picked it back up and dumped it in the nearest wastebasket. He decided that if there wasn't any soap in the supply closet, he would just snag some from Alfred's private bathroom. He walked to Alfred's bedroom, the one that had a big Superman emblem hanging on the door. Arthur entered, without bothering to shut the door behind him. He headed straight to Alfred's bathroom, which, thankfully, did have some form of soap for Arthur to use. Arthur quickly continued washing his hands and dried them, wary of being in Alfred's room alone. He had been in there many times before, but never alone.

Arthur was on his way out of the messy bedroom when he noticed a purple sheet of paper sticking out from Alfred's closet. As a naturally curious person, Arthur detoured to the closet and picked the paper up. On closer inspection, he noticed it was actually a purple envelope. On the front, "To Alfred," was written, in the most intricate handwriting Arthur had ever seen. Before thinking it through, Arthur carefully opened the envelope and slipped out its contents. It was just a birthday card. Arthur went a step further and opened the card, surprised to hear a melodic lullaby begin to play. Arthur raised a rather thick eyebrow and read the words on the inside, once again written in that beautiful handwriting he had seen before.

'_Dear Alfred,_

_Happy birthday, dear. I hope you know how special you really are to me. You really changed my life. Without you, I wouldn't even be on this earth… thank you for saving my life. Thank you for showing me love._

_ I love you._

_ -With a lot of love, Natalia.'_

Oh. So the great handwriting belonged to Natalia apparently. Arthur cringed as he reread the words,"_I love you._" What kind of idiot would love Alfred? He was such a fool… He couldn't read the atmosphere, he had a horrible taste in food, he was disorganized, he had a great smile, and even though he could be really daft at times, he was a good person who loved to help people out. What was so attractive about _that_? Arthur reread the card a third time. His eyes widened when he fully read what he hadn't been paying attention to before: _"Without you, I wouldn't even be on this earth…"_

What the- what did Natalia mean? Had Alfred saved Natalia's life before or something? To be honest, Alfred had never even told Arthur how he and Natalia had gotten together! They were supposed to be best friends! What was there to hide? Arthur stood there, glaring at the card. Dumb Natalia. She just had to show up and take away Alfred from him, didn't she? _Alfred was his first!_

Arthur gasped. What the hell was he even thinking? Alfred wasn't his, no, he never was! He couldn't be! They were just friends, was all! Good friends! Just because Arthur's heart sped up whenever Alfred was too close didn't mean anything! And that time they did _that_ when they were fourteen- they were kids back then! They were just curious! It all meant nothing! Nothing…at all…

Arthur felt the tears start to run down his cheeks. Dammit, why was he even crying? There was no reason to cry! He wiped the tears away with the back of his hand and put the card back where he first found it. He made sure his face was completely clean and then headed to the door, but stopped when he noticed two picture frames on Alfred's desk. The first picture Arthur knew quite well, as he had a copy of it himself. It was from a couple of years back, in their first year of high school. Well, actually it had been taken the summer before, when Alfred's parents had decided to go on a second honeymoon and left Alfred at Arthur's house for half of the summer. They had just returned from the movie theatre, and they were both hyper from all the soda and candy they had consumed. The movie had been an action thriller with a decent plot, so Arthur had actually enjoyed some of it. They had been having a fun time in Arthur's room, acting out scenes from the movie. Until Alfred abruptly started reciting what he could remember of the lines from the scene in the movie where the heroine confessed for the love for the hero. Without thinking, Arthur had recited back the heroine's lines, and suddenly, Alfred's lips were on his. It had come out of nowhere, and at first, Arthur had been scared and confused. After a couple of seconds he had begun enjoying the kiss, and had started to kiss back. The kiss had led to other things, but they had stopped when Arthur's mom had knocked at their door and told them to go to bed. Arthur and Alfred had immediately broken apart, without looking at each other. The next morning, they both had acted as if nothing had happened, and they never spoke of it again.

The picture on Alfred's desk was one that had been taken by Arthur's dad when they arrived back from the movie theatre that night, before any of those…events had happened. Both boys were smiling in the photo, and Alfred's arm was slung around Arthur's shoulders, which he still did often. Arthur smiled at the photo and then turned to look at the other photo on Alfred's desk.

This photo was in a considerably larger frame, and it contained a picture of Alfred and Natalia. They were both smiling too, and Alfred had his arm around Natalia's waist. _Her waist._ For some reason, this caused the tears to continue flowing, this time the tears pouring out of Arthur's tired eyes. He put his face in his hands and started sobbing. He didn't understand why, but he just felt like he _needed_ to cry.

"Artie? You up here?" Arthur jumped at the sound of Alfred's voice. He couldn't let Alfred see him cry! And in his room, of all things! Arthur ran out of the room, passing a confused Alfred as he ran down the stairs.

"A-Arthur?" Alfred asked, worried for his friend. Arthur ignored him and grabbed his schoolbag. He ran out of the house and slammed the door behind him, leaving Alfred alone, worried, and confused.

Alfred gaped at the door. What was up with Arthur? He had just gone to the bathroom, and since he'd been upstairs for such a long time, Alfred had been worried he had gotten stuck in the toilet or something. So he went up there to see what was wrong, and Arthur ran past him, crying? What had happened? Alfred thought about following his friend out, but he knew it would be best if he left him alone. In reality, Arthur cried a lot, but he hated when others would see him cry. He wouldn't even let Alfred near him when he was ready to sob. Alfred knew this, which is why he didn't follow his friend. It was for the best. He would find out what was up later.

Alfred headed back upstairs, in search of a clue. He headed to the bathroom first. He looked inside to find everything in its normal state. He took a closer look and noticed there wasn't any soap. He guessed that must've been the reason Arthur had taken so long. But why would he cry about it?

Alfred's next destination was to the supply closet, to get some soap. He opened it up and found that there was none. That must've been why Arthur took even longer… but still, it wasn't a reason to cry. He assumed that Arthur had probably gone into his room's bathroom for soap, since he was so paranoid about germs. He looked to his room, and no surprise, his door was wide open. He ventured inside, and he looked around in search of something abnormal. He caught nothing suspicious, but his eyes stopped roaming at the sight of the picture frames on his desk. The first photo was the one of him and Arthur… oh, how he loved that picture! The frowned when he saw the next one. Natalia had forced him to take a picture with his arm around her waist. Not only that, but she had bought a large picture frame for him to put the photo in, and since he didn't want to hurt her feelings, he had put it on his desk.

It was the same story for everything Natalia would give him. She would give him a gift, he would act happy, and then he would store it away. Alfred walked to his closet, and before opening it, looked around to see if anybody was near. Of course, his parents were at work and his brother was still at school, so he was alone. He slid the closed door open, revealing stacks and stacks boxes. Boxes of chocolates, watches, and expensive cologne, boxes full of greeting cards and heart-filled notes… On top of the boxes were teddy bears, and big pillows, more than half of them shaped like hearts. All the gifts were enough to fill his entire closet. After the first three months, Alfred had been required to move half of his clothing to a cabinet he bought and had placed beside his bed.

Everything, every single thing had been a gift from Natalia. Alfred didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he put every gift she gave him in his closet. Excluding anything edible, which he would eat, except dark chocolate, which he still put in his closet. He couldn't throw it away… He felt guilty whenever he tried to do so. He felt like he was deceiving Natalia, by making her think he loved her. But he tried to love her, he really did! Alfred sighed and looked over the gifts before sliding his closet shut again.

"It just isn't the same…"

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I would really appreciate it if you review! *wink wink nudge nudge***


	2. An Unexpected Turn

**A/N: I LOVE YOU PEOPLE! Thanks for all the positive feedback! It really encourages me! I didn't know if anyone would like this story... but as long as one person likes it, I"ll keep writing it. And you peeps like it. Yay! :D But now I get all paranoid... I really hope I don't disappoint you guys... **

**Anyway, in this chapter, some stuff I wasn't planning on happened. I had other ideas for this chapter, but they have been moved back. Sorry if you think the pacing is too slow or too fast... I try to keep it at a good pace. And there's a lot of stuff you might be wondering about, but don't worry, everything will be answered at one point or another. Oh, and I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to reviews yet! I'll try to do that ASAP...**

* * *

**Title: Watching You (Chapter Two)**

**Characters (so far): America, England, Belarus, Sealand, Latvia(mentioned), Scotland, Ireland, North Ireland, Wales (All slightly mentioned) (Human names used)**

**Pairings: BelarusxAmerica, AmericaxEngland, hints of SealandxLatvia, more pairings possible in later chapters**

**Rating: T, for language and other minor things.**

**Full summary:_ Every day for his physical education class, Arthur wouldn't dress out. Instead, he would sit on the bleachers and watch his classmates play. Well, watch his best friend Alfred, anyway. It was fun... when his crazy girlfriend Natalia wasn't in the way. Now _she_ was scary._**

**Word count: 4, 763**

**Disclaimer: Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.**

* * *

For once in his life, Arthur Kirkland did not want to go to school. The half-asleep Brit slammed his fist down on his irritating alarm clock that didn't want to shut up. The only damage made was to Arthur's hand, which turned slightly pink from the hit. Arthur winced and glared at the plain alarm clock. He sighed. He was glaring at an inanimate object, of all things!

The irritated somewhat teenager-he was close to turning eighteen, after all- pushed off his blanket and shook his head to fully wake himself up. He ran a hand through his extremely messy hair and sighed for the second time that morning. He was just so bloody tired. After he had left Alfred's house, he had rushed to his room to let it all out. He hadn't cried that much since that one time when he was eight and Peter chose to turn Arthur's favorite stuffed unicorn into his chew toy. Arthur had locked himself up in his room, crying the entire time, and hadn't come out until Alfred had been called over by his mum and threatened to give the rest of his stuffed animals to Peter. The little Brit had run out of his room screaming bloody murder at the eight-year-old American.

This time though, it was different. He hadn't been crying about a toy, but a person. Arthur didn't understand why, but he had been crying over Alfred. Arthur winced as he felt a sudden pang in his chest when he thought about the other boy. What was wrong with him?

Arthur stretched and managed to get out of bed, even though all he really wanted to do was sleep and just not think. Unfortunately for him, he had grades he had to keep up if he really wanted to get admitted into the university of his choice. He grabbed a clean towel and a random set of clothes from his closet. Who cared what he looked like anyway?

Arthur shuffled into the bathroom he and his little brother shared. There were only two bathrooms in the entire house, one in the upstairs hallway and one in his parents' bedroom. Arthur thanked the fairies that all of his older brothers managed to get into university. Sharing a home with four older brothers and _Peter_? That was hell while it lasted.

The Briton shut the bathroom door behind him and put his things on the sink counter, which looked exactly like the one in Alfred's bathroom, but with soap available to anyone who valued their hygiene. Arthur turned on the water and leaned against the cold marble, as he waited for the water to heat up. He glanced at the clothes he had brought and looked away, but then looked back again quickly. He gasped. There was no way he was wearing _that _to school! He grabbed the outrageous garment and rushed out of the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him. Once in his room, he searched in his closet for a more appropriate pair of slacks. He decided on a pair of plain tan slacks and pulled them out of his closet. Those would do.

Then again… Arthur always wore plain slacks to school. An image of Natalia from the day before suddenly came to mind. She was wearing a pretty pair of jeans that suited her rather nicely. They made her look more attractive than she already was, Arthur had to admit. Maybe if he wore different pants, Arthur would look more attractive as well? It's not like he really cared or anything, but…

Arthur decided to take a risk and put the tan slacks back in his closet. A little change wouldn't hurt, right? Alfred had called him boring more than once… Arthur shook his head furiously. What did he care what Alfred thought? He didn't care at all, no sir!

Arthur walked back to the bathroom with his final choice in bottom wear, frustrated for thinking about Alfred and proud for taking a chance and wearing the certain pair of daring jeans. To Arthur's surprise, the bathroom door was shut. He tried turning the knob, but to no avail. It was locked. He knocked on the door loudly and was answered by an obnoxious laugh from the other side.

"Haha! That's what you get, you English jerk of jerks!"

"_Peter!"_

* * *

Alfred stood on Arthur's doorstep, unsure of himself for one of the first times in his life. What if he was the reason Arthur had been crying yesterday? Maybe he had done something wrong! That was no good! Heroes made people happy, right? Making people cry was a big no-no! Then again, why would Arthur ever cry about Alfred?

Alfred shook off his nervous thoughts and pressed his singer to the doorbell. He actually had a key, but he didn't know if it would be a very good time to just waltz into Arthur's house. He knew both of the Brit's parents had already gone to work, but still, what if Arthur's dad had forgotten his wallet or something, came back to look for it under the couch cushions, and Alfred walked in to greet Mr. Kirkland's ass? No, thank you!

A little boy answered the door, outfitted in a sailor's outfit he wore for fun. He was like a carbon copy of Arthur; they had the same eyebrows, similar hair, and the same superior look in their eyes. Even their stature was the same. Okay, so Arthur was only a couple of centimeters shorter than Alfred. But he still seemed so small to the American. Alfred shrugged. Who knew what made Arthur seem so cute and small?

"Hullo, Alfred!" Peter greeted the American excitedly. He loved it when Alfred would come over! He was so cool and heroic, completely different from his boring brother. _'How can two opposites be best friends?'_ Peter wondered. He shrugged it off. He and his best friend were really different too! Raivis was always scared, but Peter wasn't scared of anything!

"Hey kiddo!" Alfred ruffled Peter's hair and grinned. "How's life been lately, little dude?" he asked, even though he had just seen Peter the morning before. In fact, he was Peter every morning, since he gave Arthur a ride to school. Yes, _every_ morning.

"Oh, it's been very good!" Peter grabbed Alfred's bomber jacket sleeve and pulled him inside the house. "Me and Raivis are going to the zoo today on a field trip! It's going to be so much fun!" Peter beamed as he headed to the kitchen to fetch Alfred a soda, leaving his hero alone on the couch. Alfred chuckled. So young, so happy… Peter was a good kid, even if he did make it his job to make Arthur's life a living hell.

Alfred's eyes scanned the living room. It hadn't changed at all in ten years, except for a couple of new carpet stains, thanks to Peter. Alfred hummed a random tune and put his head back against the couch. If he thought about it, Peter was a lot like him and Arthur. He was like a cool mix of both! If Alfred and Arthur had a kid, it would be Peter for sure!

Alfred slammed his head against the couch in surprise as a faint shade of pink dusted his cheeks. What was he thinking? He and-have a baby? They were both guys! And even if they did do it-argh! Alfred grabbed a couch cushion and shoved it in his face. Seriously, what the fuck was he thinking?

Peter returned with two bottles of Coca Cola, one for Alfred and one for himself. Arthur never ever let him have soda, especially in the morning, but since he was in the shower, Peter took the opportunity. It wasn't as if he was doing anything bad. Arthur was just a jerk that didn't like to share. What a meanie.

Peter handed a bottle of Coke to Alfred, who took it gratefully. He grinned. "Thanks!"

"Anything for you, Alfred!" Peter saluted the older blond and ran upstairs, in order to drink the soda in his room before Arthur finished showering. He had almost reached his bedroom when he heard the bathroom door creak open, steam coming from within. Peter attempted to hide the bottle of soda behind his back, but Arthur's quick eyes managed to notice it before he did.

"What's that, Peter?" Arthur narrowed his eyes as he pointed at the hidden object. He held his towel and pajamas in one hand, freshly changed.

"It's nothing, you jerk!" Peter backed away from Arthur, raising the latter's suspicion.

"Oh, okay." Arthur feigned disinterest and looked away from Peter. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Peter let his guard down, just as Arthur had expected. Arthur dropped his clothes and made a grab for Peter, throwing his arms around his little brother's waist.

"Wha-!" Peter shrieked and tried to resist, kicking and flailing his arms in a weak attempt to leave his brother's grasp. Arthur ignored Peter's attempts easily and reached out for the soda bottle in the boy's hand. Peter immediately noticed, and desperate, did the first thing that came to mind. With all the strength of a twelve year-old, Peter smashed the glass bottle against his older brother's skull.

Arthur dropped to the floor from the hit, motionless on the floor. The attack had broken the bottle, causing streams of soda to fall all over Arthur's white collared shirt and the white carpet, both now stained with Coca Cola and Arthur's blood. Blood?

Peter screamed when he realized what he had done. His big brother was bleeding! His head was bleeding! What had he done? He was so sorry! Peter began weeping and knelt down at his brother's side.

"I'm s-so sorry, Arthur! I didn't mean to! I'm so sorry!" the little boy cried, in belief he had killed his big brother. Arthur's eyes were closed, his lips slightly parted. Blood had started seeping through his golden locks, dirtying them and causing them to stick together in a wet mess. The blood started to flow from the top of his head to his face, running down his forehead in thin streams.

Alfred heard Peter's shriek from his seat on the couch and immediately dropped his empty bottle of coke. He ran to the staircase, worried. _'I wonder what happened?'_

Alfred's blood froze at the sight. Arthur was lying on the floor, unconscious, his shirt stained and dirty from-Alfred didn't even want to think it. Peter was next to him, clutching his own shirt and crying his little eyes out.

"What happened?" Alfred rushed to the brothers to get a closer look. Arthur's head seemed to be in a bad state, as proved by the blood protruding from it. Alfred grabbed his friend's wrist and placed his index and middle fingers to it, like he had been taught to do the previous summer for his lifeguarding job. His heart beat seemed to be fine, much to Alfred's relief.

"It's okay, he's alive. But we still need to call an ambulance, okay? You can tell me what happened later," he assured Peter. Alfred knew how it was to be only twelve years old; he himself had been clueless and naïve, enough to think that if he jumped off his roof he would fly like Superman. He had ended up in the hospital for two weeks.

Alfred whipped out his cell phone and hurriedly dialed 911. He bit his lip as he waited for an answer.

"This is 911. What is your emergency?"

Alfred explained what he could of the situation and was relieved to hear and ambulance was on its way. He would drive Arthur to the nearest hospital, but he didn't want to risk hurting him any more than he already was. He thanked the woman on the line and hung up.

Alfred looked down at his unconscious friend. Arthur looked so peaceful, no smirk or frown present on his handsome face for once. Alfred pressed his thumb to one of Arthur's rather large eyebrows, wiping some of the blood away. Alfred chuckled at the feel of those eyebrows. They weren't as thick as he first made them out to be, but they were so dark compared to Arthur's hair and complexion that they just seemed like fuzzy caterpillars. Arthur's monster eyebrows were the reason Alfred had become interested in Arthur in the first place… When Alfred had first heard they had new neighbors, he was so excited. He ran outside and greeted the entire family, a nice British couple with a big family, with six sons to be exact. Alfred had taken a liking to all of them immediately, but he was intrigued with Arthur and Peter the most, due to their colossal eyebrows. Sure, the rest of the brothers had them too, but they weren't as thick or furry as Arthur's were. Alfred had commented to Arthur how freaky his eyebrows were, causing the Brit to step on his foot, call him a git, and run into his new home. That had been the start of a wonderful friendship.

Alfred smiled at the memory and continued stroking his friend's eyebrow. He noticed how Arthur's eyelashes contrasted against his pale skin, how his cheeks were tinted pink as if he were having a very good dream. Alfred moved his thumb down across Arthur's nose, landing at the other male's lips. Alfred grazed his thumb across the pair of pink lips, which were slightly parted, sending small gusts of Arthur's breath against the American's thumb. They felt so soft… so much different than Natalia's own lips, which were cold and tasted like ice. Following his urge, Alfred leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to those of his unconscious friend. Alfred kept their lips touching for a second before he moved away. He had been yearning to do that again for a while… A squeak interrupted Alfred's reverie, causing to him to snap his attention away from Arthur to Peter, who was looking up at Alfred with wide, confused eyes.

"W-w-what?" Peter asked, having seen the entire scenario. Alfred cursed internally. He had totally forgotten Peter was there!

"I, um…" Alfred racked his brain for an excuse. An imaginary floating light bulb lit over his head. "His lips were really cold! So, I yanno, I had to warm them up! With my own! Cuz if not, he could have, er, died!"

Peter's face lightened up in understanding. He wiped the remaining tears away with the back of his sleeve and nodded. "Oh! I've heard of that! Raivis did it to me once too! But then he said he was really, really, _really _sorry and fainted!"

Alfred raised an eyebrow, but then lowered it. Twelve… that had been the same age he had realized it too…

"Tell your buddy Raivis that he shouldn't apologize so much. It's okay if he's confused."

"Um, okay." Peter nodded, but obviously didn't understand what Alfred meant. The older blond let it slide. As long as Raivis got the message, it was okay if Peter didn't get it. One day they would both understand.

"Oh! And don't tell Arthur, you got that?"

"Okay." Peter didn't bother question his hero. He had a good reason for everything he did!

"Oh! And you know my girlfriend, Natalia?"

"That really scary girl that came here once and almost cut my brother's finger off?"

"That's the one! Don't tell her either!"

"Oka-"

A hollering ambulance siren startled both of the boys, causing them to jump at the sudden piercing sound.

"Don't worry Artie, help's here," Alfred whispered. He was terribly worried for his friend, but he had done his best not to show it, so he wouldn't scare young Peter. He had tried distracting his worries by watching Arthur… but that might have made Peter scared _and _confused… Oh well. And hopefully, Peter would keep his promise and not tell Arthur or Natalia about the event. _Especially_ not Natalia… Alfred shook off the thought as men rushed into the house, ready to take Arthur to the hospital to get the medical care he needed.

* * *

"Bloody hell…"

That's what Arthur's head felt like. _Bloody hell._ He pressed his palm to the side of his thumping head, but quickly snatched his hand back due to the pain the slight pressure had caused. He drowsily slid his eyes open, the world still a blur. He blinked his eyes repeatedly in order to set his eyes working properly.

He was in an unfamiliar room, and he was sure of it, for he had never seen a room so dull before. The walls were painted an eerie puke green color, a matching curtain hanging on the sole window in the room. Next to him were a bunch of strange devices, the kind he had only seen in movies. From what Arthur could tell, he was in a hospital room, for one reason or the other. The only question left was why he was in the hospital in the first place. Had he fallen? Did he get hit by a car? Or maybe- wait. Arthur closed his eyes as the memories came flowing back. He couldn't believe it. He knew Peter wasn't very fond of him, but to go so far as to hit him in the head with a glass bottle? That was just… Arthur couldn't resist the tears that started forming. His own little brother had put him in the hospital! Even though… Arthur really loved Peter, he truly did… obviously, Peter didn't feel the same. Arthur sniffled.

"Tissue?" Arthur snapped his attention to the doorway, where Alfred stood, a box of tissues in hand. _'Dammit.'_

"What makes you think I need a tissue, you git?" Arthur wiped his tears away quickly, so Alfred wouldn't see that he had really been crying. Alfred smiled at Arthur's response and took a seat in the chair next to the Brit's bed.

"Because I know ya, Artie." Alfred handed the box of tissues to Arthur, who hesitantly accepted it and put it in his lap. Arthur tried to sit up, but was stopped by Alfred's hand against his chest, pushing him back down. "Whoa there. Nuh uh. You stay laying down. Doctor's orders."

Arthur scowled, but did not attempt to get up again. If the doctor had really said so, he would do it. The thing that irritated him was having to hear it from Alfred. "I'm fine. Why are you here? How did I even get here?"

Alfred rolled his eyes and placed his chin on the edge of Arthur's hospital bed. "Who do you think got you here in the first place?"

"You drove me here?" For some reason, Arthur found this genuinely surprising. Of course, who else would be able to take Arthur to the hospital? And after the previous day's events… he hadn't known if Alfred would still want to give Arthur a ride. Luckily for him, Alfred was a caring chap.

"Well, no. I called 911. Faster, yanno?" Alfred shrugged. Arthur looked at the box of tissues in his lap, and back to Alfred. Arthur was truly lucky to have such a good friend. Even if he did get weird feelings from time to time, it was worth being Alfred's best friend.

"Thank you, Alfred."

Alfred looked up at Arthur, eyes wide. Had Arthur Kirkland just thanked someone? Alfred, of all people? Whoa. Alfred started laughing, causing Arthur to glare at him.

"What?"

"You thanked me! Without any insults added!" Alfred answered, in between chuckles. Arthur scowled even deeper from the answer.

"Fine. Thank you, git."

"Ahaha! There's the Artie I know and love~!" Alfred patted Arthur's shoulder gently, as the Brit silently attempted to stop his blush, triggered by the contact and the mention of the word "love."

"Whatever! What time is it? Shouldn't you be at school?" Arthur changed the subject, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Alfred finally stopped laughing, and straightened up.

"Well, I didn't go, no duh. My BFF is in the hospital. What the hell would I be doing at school?" Alfred shrugged, closing his eyes for a moment and then opening them again. Arthur gaped. Alfred had missed an entire day of school just for him?

"But what about Natalia?" Arthur whispered his next thought. He hadn't meant for Alfred to hear him, but apparently, the blond did, for he shrugged a second time.

"I'll call her later."

That answer seemed to satisfy Arthur in unexpected ways. Alfred had picked him over Natalia. He had picked him over his _girlfriend. _Arthur wanted to hop out of bed and do a victory dance, but was discouraged from doing it by Alfred's presence and the throbbing pain in his head. Instead, he made a mental scoreboard in his head. _'Natalia: 0, Arthur: 1. In your face, bitch.'_

"-at school." Alfred said, unaware Arthur hadn't been paying attention to him at all. He had been too absorbed in his thoughts of kicking sand in Natalia's face. It wasn't a very nice thought, but Arthur wasn't always a necessarily nice person. And Natalia was far from being nice, so who cared if he imagined her getting hit in the face with a baseball?

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

Alfred groaned, too lazy to want to repeat his statement. Arthur rolled his eyes. What a git. "I said, Peter was really worried, but then Raivis showed up so the two of them could walk to school, and Peter kinda forgot about you a little bit, since he has a field trip or whatever, and so now he's at school. Or, actually, the zoo, I think."

"Oh," Arthur muttered. So did Peter really not care for him? Well fine. If his little brother didn't love him, Arthur wouldn't love him either!

"He said he was really sorry," Alfred informed Arthur. The American teenager rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding Arthur's gaze. "He told me what happened. He says he's really sorry, and that he didn't mean to. He hopes you'll forgive him. And er… me too."

Arthur tilted his head to the side, a habit he had picked up from Alfred. "Why should I forgive you? You haven't done anything."

"Well, I, um, I haven't, but still, yanno…" Alfred continued avoiding eye contact with his friend, who was growing increasingly suspicious.

"No, Alfred, I do not know." Arthur's eyebrows furrowed in frustration. He really didn't understand at all. "What are you talking about?"

Alfred didn't like where the conversation was going, since he was afraid of revealing too much, and hurriedly changed the subject. "Those were some pretty tight jeans you were wearing."

Arthur blushed, remembering the bold choice of bottom wear he had made that morning. Maybe it had been a mistake after all. "What are you talking about?"

"Those black skinny jeans you were wearing this morning. Never seen ya in anything like those!" Alfred chuckled and reached for Arthur's hair, in order to mess it up even more, but stopped when he remembered his friend's injuries. He put his hand back down and sent Arthur a cheeky grin instead. "They were even torn a little. Where did ya get those jeans, huh? You looked pretty hot in them~!" The words were out of Alfred's mouth before he had even realized what he was saying.

The question flew right over Arthur's head, overpowered by Alfred's statement. Alfred had just called him hot. He thought he was attractive. For an unknown reason, this thought sent chills down Arthur's spine, and a heavy blush to his cheeks. "Y-you think I looked…hot?"

Alfred stopped mid-chuckle, his eyes widening as he realized his blunder. "I mean, like, if I was a girl! Yeah! If I was a girl, I'd think you were hot! But yanno, not now, cuz yeah, and uh…" Alfred trailed off, his gaze shifting to the ceiling.

"Right. Of course." Arthur's mood deflated, the excitement he had been feeling long gone. Of course Alfred didn't think he was hot. That would just be weird, right?

"So, doc says you'll be in here for at least a couple more days," Alfred said, successfully changing the subject twice in a row. What was up with him? He kept saying stupid things! It was weird, since Alfred was usually careful about what he said around Arthur. Contrary to popular belief, he actually thought before he said anything. Well, most of the time. Occasionally, some stuff would slip out, getting him in trouble. Like that one time Alfred had called one of Arthur's older brothers a good-for-nothing drunkard Scot after said man had run over Alfred's new skateboard with his car. Alfred shivered slightly. He still had nightmares of being chased by a red-faced Scotsman for almost five miles. Then again, in his dreams the man was always wearing a kilt, so it wasn't as scary.

"Really?" Arthur leaned his head back into his pillow. So he would miss a couple of days of school… he needed a break anyway. His vice-president could take care of his student council duties for the meantime. "So what's the damage?"

"Well," Alfred started, "when the bottle hit you, some glass cut your skull or something. That's the reason for all the blood… But the cut wasn't big enough to need stitches, so no worries. And you had a concussion, but they gave you some meds for it… I think…" Alfred's eyes brightened as he remembered something. "Oh yeah," he said, and chuckled. "That doctor said you have some pretty huge eyebrows. He asked me if they were real."

"Wha-!" Arthur's face reddened in embarrassment. Curse his eyebrows! They were so large and dark and odd-looking! He placed a hand to one of them self-consciously. He didn't know what to do about his eyebrows. He had tried various ways to get rid of them in the past, but in the end he just got hurt. He never managed to make them look normal, and if he did a decent job, the cursed eyebrows would grow overnight. It was so strange and frustrating! "W-what did you say?" Arthur asked, still feeling embarrassed about his exaggerated eyebrows.

Alfred noticed Arthur's reaction to his statement. He knew how self-conscious Arthur was when it came to his eyebrows. Alfred didn't really understand why, though. He really liked his friend's eyebrows. They were different, and made him unique. Alfred grinned at his friend as he moved Arthur's hand away from his eyebrows.

"I told him that they're 100 percent Arthur Kirkland."

Arthur looked up at his best friend with wide eyes. The fluorescent hospital light seemed to outline his form perfectly. His blue eyes shined with mischief, and his wheat-colored hair seemed to glow. He looked like an angel. Arthur was speechless. He felt the warmth coming from Alfred's hand touching his own and acknowledged the heat swarming to his face again. Arthur was so lucky to even be Alfred's friend…

"Huh? Artie?" Alfred tilted his head to the side at the Brit's dazed look. It had come out of nowhere… Alfred ignored the heat coming from Arthur's hand, along with the tug at his heart that it caused and let go. Too much contact could be dangerous. He had learned that the hard way.

"Eh?" At the loss of contact with Alfred's hand, everything seemed to clear up again. Arthur shook his head, willing the blush of his face. "Git. Of course my eyebrows are 100 percent me. They're on my face, aren't they? And don't touch me." Arthur added in the last part quickly, embarrassed.

"But if I don't touch you, how can I push you out of a car's way? How will I stop you from tripping?" Alfred smirked before saying the rest. "How can I be your hero without touching you?" Arthur promptly smacked the other blond on the head.

"Don't make it sound dirty, git."

"What'cha be talking about~?" Alfred feigned ignorance and shrugged. "I was only saying-"

"Gentlemen," a soft voice interrupted Alfred, causing both boys to snap their attention to the doorway. A small woman, obviously a nurse, stood there, eyeing both boys curiously.

"Yes, nurse?" Arthur asked while attempting to sit up to see her better. Alfred immediately pushed him back down, much to the Brit's annoyance.

"You have a visitor," the nurse answered. "Would you like to see them?"

Arthur frowned and let Alfred answer for him. "Well who is it?"

The nurse sent the boys an apologetic look and exited the room. She quickly entered again.

"A young lady by the name of Natalia Arlovskaya."

'_Oh shit.'_

* * *

**A/N: I hope this chapter was enjoyable! I'll get the next one up ASAP! Reviews encourage me to work faster... seriously, they do. OHONHONHON~! Oh, and currently I'm working on sketches of the characters in this story's AU. I'll post up the link when I'm done~!**

**Thanks for reading~!**


	3. Stranger at the Bus Stop

**A/N: I am so... tired. Sorry I took so long! It was my friend's birthday, and I was busy making my present for her... hehe. Hopefully, since it's winter break, I can work on this more often! After I finish my story about stopping Napoleon from conquering Europe for my AP Euro History class, anyway. =_=" Ahaha..**

**Well, thanks so much for the love, guys! Er, girls! Guys and girls! Your faves, story alerts, and reviews make me really happy! I'm sorry if I haven't replied to your review yet... I'm working on that... I started but forgot where I left off... =_=**

**I hope you enjoy this! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! I'll try to answer them as soon as I can!**

**

* * *

**

**Characters (so far): America, England, Belarus, Sealand, Latvia(mentioned), Scotland, Ireland, North Ireland, Wales, Greece, Japan, (All slightly mentioned), Seychelles, Ukraine(mentioned), Russia(mentioned) (Human names used)**

**Pairings: BelarusxAmerica, AmericaxEngland, hints of SealandxLatvia, very slight hint of UkrainexEstonia, more pairings possible in later chapters**

**Rating: T, for language and other minor things.**

**Full summary:_ Every day for his physical education class, Arthur wouldn't dress out. Instead, he would sit on the bleachers and watch his classmates play. Well, watch his best friend Alfred, anyway. It was fun... when his crazy girlfriend Natalia wasn't in the way. Now _she_ was scary._**

**Word count: 5,563**

**Disclaimer: Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.**

**

* * *

**

Arthur wasn't afraid. He was trembling simply because he was a bit chilly, was all! The hospital sheets were so thin and-oh, who was he kidding? He was terrified. _'I'm going to die!'_ _She's going to kill me!'_ Arthur grabbed the crisp white bed sheet and pulled it up to his chin.

Alfred noticed Arthur tense up, but acted as if he hadn't sensed the change. He had to agree, Natalia could be a scary chick, but deep down, she was a really nice girl. The only problem was her obsession with knives, her bad temper, and the way she got so clingy whenever she liked someone. Okay, so that was more than one major problem, but she was still a decent girl.

"Let her in," Alfred instructed the nurse, who nodded in response. She left the room again, most likely to retrieve Natalia.

'_Breathe,' _Arthur told himself. It wasn't as if Natalia would really kill him. She had her scary moments, like that one time she almost cut of Arthur's finger a couple of months ago, but she was still an average girl. She was younger than him, even! While Arthur was currently in his last year of high school, Natalia was still in barely in her second year… And in a couple of months, Arthur himself would be eighteen…

Wait.

The gears in Arthur's mind seemed to finally start turning, so quickly he felt the beginnings of a nasty headache coming on. Alfred's birthday was only about two months after Arthur's…. At the time, Natalia would only be sixteen… Which meant…

"Yoooo, Artie? Art? Arthur? Earth to stuffy Brit?" Alfred poked Arthur in the forehead, effectively shaking him out of his thoughts.

"Argh, what do you want?" Arthur slapped his friend's hand away with a little more force than he had intended. That and Alfred's annoyed face raised the bubbling guilt in his stomach.

"Geez, man. I only wanted to break you out of your lame-ass daydreams with your little fairy friends and mint-flavored pets to remind you that you have a visitor, thank you very much!" Alfred snapped.

"Yes," a hard, yet feminine, voice, agreed. Natalia stood at the doorway, a large black purse slung over her shoulder. She wore a small white bow in her hair, which contrasted her outfit of mainly black. "I heard about your little… predicament, and came here to see if you were doing well." Natalia approached the two, her hands held behind her back. She reached Alfred's side and pointed to her cheek. Just like always, he obliged and kissed her on the cheek, stepping away from Arthur in order to do so. Arthur looked away, slight annoyance causing his cheeks to heat up.

"Natalia," he greeted the girl. He forced himself to face the couple, since he didn't want to be rude. He was a gentleman, after all.

"Arthur," Natalia nodded, and said nothing else. The room was filled with an eerie silence that none of its occupants knew how to fill. That is, until Alfred, being the hero he was, decided to speak up.

"So, er…" he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "How did you find out we were here, Natia?"

"Simple." Natalia nodded and took a seat in the chair beside Arthur's bed. Arthur's body slightly tensed up again, so he inched away from her. She shot him a glare. Arthur scooted away even more. Alfred pretended he hadn't noticed.

"Anyway," Natalia continued, "I got the news from your little friend, Kiku. I was wondering why you weren't at school, and since Arthur didn't attend either, I got suspicious. And that Japanese boy is a mutual friend, is he not? So I simply asked him."

Arthur immediately felt bad for Kiku. Poor chap.

"Oh, so Kiku told you, huh…" Alfred nodded in understanding.

"Yes. But the question is-" Natalia grabbed Alfred's collar and pulled his face to hers. Alfred, caught off guard, jumped lightly, but was still tight in the girl's grasp. Arthur looked away as the two kissed. Gits! They both knew he was single and had no one to share his affections with… The couple pulled away after a couple of seconds, allowing Natalia to finish her question. "-Why did you tell _him_ before you told _me_?"

"Uh…"

Arthur wanted to laugh. Dumb Alfred, kissing his girlfriend right in front of Arthur! He deserved what he was going to get! Still… Natalia had been the one who had pulled him into the kiss… but-wait, why did Arthur even care? It was none of his business!

"Do you like _him_ more than you like _me_? Is this Japanese friend of yours more important to you than I am? What about Arthur? You dare abandon me for him without even bothering to call?" Natalia pushed Alfred away and got up from the chair swiftly.

"Natalia-"Alfred started, but was interrupted by Natalia's harsh glare. Arthur was speechless. Truly, he didn't know what to say. He had been laughing at the possibility of Alfred getting into trouble with his girlfriend some seconds ago, but actually seeing it was a different story.

Natalia reached in her purse, digging for something. Arthur gasped. She didn't have a knife, did she? Was she really going to kill him?

"N-Natalia, there's no need to-" Arthur stopped mid-sentence when a large bouquet of red roses was thrown in his face.

"For you. A get-well gift." Arthur said nothing, wide-eyed, as the girl turned away from him and back to Alfred. "As for you-"

"Nat, I really am sorry!" Alfred interrupted, putting up his hands in surrender. "I just forgot and stuff, and-"

"Stop lying to me!" Natalia's voice was strained as she put her head down, her long platinum bangs hiding her face. "'I-I really though you would be different… b-but it's just going to happen again… like it did with _him_…" Natalia sniffled, making it apparent that she was trying to hide tears. Arthur watched from the hospital bed helplessly as the girl finally decided to run out of the room, leaving Alfred baffled.

"Dammit!" the taller of the two blonds cursed, and ran out after Natalia, leaving Arthur completely alone, with nothing but his roses. He shook his head and looked away from the door. Natalia was Alfred's girlfriend. Arthur was just his friend. Alfred had run out because he needed to comfort her. That's how it was supposed to be. His gaze shifted to the rose bouquet in his lap. He still couldn't believe Natalia had actually bought those for him. Didn't she hate him? That's what he had always believed, so why would she bring him flowers? Arthur turned the bouquet in his hands. The roses were really beautiful. They were his favorite flower, actually. The only person that knew was Alfred, since Francis would mock him if he ever found out. Arthur put his nose close to the vivid red petals and took in their relaxing fragrance. He dug his nose in a little deeper, and winced when he felt something sharp slide against his nose. _'Don't tell me she snuck a knife into the bouquet!'_ Arthur immediately moved his face away warily. Maybe Natalia really did hate him after all. He carefully slid his hand into the roses and plucked out the sharp object. Arthur lifted his eyebrows when he noted that it wasn't a knife, but a note. A note on a rather sharp piece of paper, but a note.

'_Arthur,_

_Get better soon. Alfred is mine. That is all._

_-Natalia'_

Arthur grunted. For some reason, all the note from Natalia did was piss him off. Alfred most certainly was not Natalia's! Alfred was _his!_ Arthur groaned and put his face in his hands. How many times had he gone over it? Alfred was not his, never was, and never would be. He had to get that through his stubborn head. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about Alfred as a mere possession, but… it felt… satisfying to think of Alfred as his own, for some reason…

Arthur shook his head and put the bouquet to the sided. He peeked at the door again. No, neither of the two had returned. At the moment, he didn't know how to feel about that. He knew he should've been hoping that his best friend did well with his girlfriend, but… he secretly wished the opposite.

There would be nights where Arthur would lie in bed, staring up at his dull ceiling as he imagined what it would be like if Alfred and Natalia broke up. After such thoughts, he would always fall asleep easily, his heart feeling light; but in the morning, he always felt that lightness replaced with a heavy burden of guilt. Guilt he had for thoughts he simply just didn't understand.

The English teen sighed as he turned away from the doorway and stuffed his face into his pillow. _'What are Alfred and Natalia doing now? Did he catch up to her?'_ he wondered, as he twirled a lock of his sandy blonde hair idly with his finger. The image rushed into his mind. Natalia leaning against a hospital wall, tears in her eyes. Alfred reaching out and gently taking hold of her chin, forcing to look up at him. He kisses her. They kiss again. The kissing continues until it's not even just kissing anymore-"Stop!" Arthur pleaded to himself. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to get rid of the unwanted images flooding his mind. Those images- they made his chest burn! It kept beating, but with a sudden weight making it harder for it to keep going. It hurt.

He took a deep breath and exhaled. "Calm down, Arthur," he told himself, nodding his head slightly. "They can't do anything like that here… we're in a bloody hospital," he whispered, so hushed he can barely hear himself. Reassured slightly, Arthur slid his eyes open again, revealing his watery jade orbs. He ignored the tears slowly starting to drip down his cheeks. He had probably just clenched his eyes shut too tightly… Arthur moved his hand to touch his face. His skin was soft… but not as soft as Natalia's, most likely. That was right. Arthur was a man! He shouldn't be thinking that way about Alfred… and he knew he wasn't jealous of him, either. Why would he ever want to date a girl like Natalia? Arthur was more jealous of her for having Alfred… Arthur's previous revelation suddenly came to mind again. His eyes brightened in remembering. Natalia wouldn't have Alfred for much longer… if Arthur knew Alfred well enough, which he was sure he did. Yes, he had some hope… but wait, hope for what? All it really was a danger to Alfred and Natalia's relationship. Especially since Alfred considered himself a "hero." He refused to break the laws, something Arthur had first realized when Alfred scolded him for drinking rum a summer a couple years back when the two had been left alone at Arthur's house. It was quite unusual for a teenager in that day and age to be so… legal. Alfred had even voiced many times how it had always been his dream to be a police officer…

So of course there was no way he would ever illegally date a minor.

Right?

* * *

Natalia ran blindly, her eyes filled to the brim with icy tears. She darted past confused doctors and concerned nurses, not bothering to give them the time of day. She felt like a fool. How could she have gotten her hopes up like that? Of course it was going to happen again! It was always the same with her!

'_Why can no one ever truly love me?' _she questioned herself, wiping a tear away hastily as she noticed the hospital entrance was close.

What was she to do? She really loved Alfred, but… did it even matter? The Belarusian girl pushed the heavy hospital doors open and breathed in the fresh air to calm her nerves. She kept running though, in search for a place she could rest and get away from everyone else. Later, she would call her sister to pick her up. At the moment, Natalia just wanted to be alone.

Natalia finally stopped and took a seat at a bus stop right in front of the hospital parking lot. Too her chagrin, there was already a person sitting at it, a lone girl. The girl was absorbed in her teen magazine, the kind cluttered with colorful pictures of boy bands and young celebrities. Natalia stared at her, her eyes finally dry. The girl still didn't notice her, too busy scanning the glossy pages with her dull brown eyes. She had her bag, a vivid rainbow colored thing covered with fish patches, sitting next to her sloppily. Without taking her eyes off the magazine, she reached inside her bag and fished out a lollipop. She managed to put the magazine down in order to unwrap the lollipop, and finally noticed Natalia hovering over her.

"Oh, hello!" she smiled at the blond, her cheeks tinting to a rosy pink, which looked ridiculously attractive on her caramel-colored skin. Now that she was looking up at her, Natalia could see that her eyes were not dull at all; they were a shining chocolate, so deep that she could feel herself getting sucked in by them.

"Hello," Natalia nodded her head. She had to act calm. She couldn't let such a beautiful girl see that she had been crying… She took a seat next to the girl, who moved her bag to her lap to make some space on the blue bus stop bench.

Natalia looked forward, avoiding contact with the other girl. Obviously, the other girl had not picked up the tense atmosphere, or had to decide to ignore it, since Natalia suddenly felt gentle hands taking in her hair.

"Whoa… you have some really nice hair, you know that? I wish I could get mine like that! But mine's just so boring, don't ya think?" Natalia blushed as the Bus Stop Girl continued to run her fingers through her hair. She didn't know what to do. She had originally wanted some alone time, and now some strange girl was touching her hair! But… it felt kind of nice… reassuring, actually… Natalia decided to humor Bus Stop Girl and answer her question.

"No, your hair is not plain at all. It is quite nice. The bows are a nice touch, by the way. I have an attachment to bows as well," Natalia told her. She was telling the absolute truth. She admired Bus Stop Girl's flowing milk-chocolate brown hair, held in two low pigtails with bright red bows. The style seemed to match her perfectly.

Bus Stop Girl blushed and looked away. "R-really? No one's ever told me that before…" Natalia raised a perfectly trimmed eyebrow. Bus Stop Girl was so beautiful that Natalia, who was voted the prettiest girl in her year and third prettiest of the whole school, was jealous. She knew Bus Stop Girl could easily beat the girl that had been voted the prettiest in the whole school, that senior Elizaveta Hedervary. Natalia would compare Bus Stop Girl to the second prettiest, but she had never actually met the girl.

"Well I think you're beautiful," Natalia smiled at the girl, her eyes softly crinkling at the corners. Oh, when was the last time she had been able to smile so easily? Bus Stop Girl snapped her wide eyes back to Natalia, her blush deeper than before.

"Wah? Me? Beautiful? B-but I'm so plain! There's nothing special about me! You- you're the one that's beautiful!" Bus Stop Girl said it all so fast Natalia almost couldn't understand her. Natalia couldn't help but smile again. What was going on with her? She had never smiled so much in one period of time. Not even when she was with Alfred!

Alfred…

Natalia remembered how she originally ended up at the bus stop. She was losing Alfred… Against her will, the tears started forming at the corners of her eyes again. Bus Stop Girl immediately noticed Natalia's change in mood and frowned. She hadn't said something stupid again, had she?

"H-hey! Why are you crying? I'm sorry, was it something I said? Or… something?" Bus Stop Girl scooted closer to Natalia, the material of her shorts making a scratchy noise against the material of the bench. She reached her hand out and patted the weeping girl's back with steady hands. "It's okay… I say stupid things sometimes. If I said something to offend you, I didn't mean it, I promise!"

Natalia, despite the tears, managed to chuckle. Bus Stop Girl… so stunning yet so naïve. Bus Stop Girl seemed even more unsettled by Natalia's reaction, as told by her widened eyes. If she widened her eyes any more, Natalia was afraid her eyes would pop out.

"Eh? Now you're laughing?" Bus Stop Girl abruptly stopped patting Natalia's back and crossed her arms in front of her medium-sized chest and pouted. "You're not playing some sort of trick on me, are you, _ma belle?"_

Natalia looked up at the other girl, her eyebrows raised slightly. "You know French?"

Bus Stop Girl sent her a smug smile and nodded. "Yup! I know English, French, and of course, Seychellois Creole, since it is my home country! Plus, I know a little bit of Spanish 'cause of this friend of mine…. He's Spanish, heh." Bus Stop Girl waved her hand, as if her knowledge of languages was nothing special.

"That's impressive." Natalia smiled yet again. She was starting to suspect that she was possibly ill… or maybe it was just Bus Stop Girl's presence that put her in a better mood? "I know English, obviously, Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian, and a bit of French, since I'm taking it this year at my school."

Bus Stop Girl's chocolate eyes widened twice in size. "You said I was impressive? How do you know so many languages?" she asked. Natalia just shrugged. She wasn't really sure if she should answer the question. She was afraid that if she did, she would be giving away too much information to a stranger. Wasn't that dangerous? Natalia looked the girl over again. She looked harmless. Her denim jacket and matching shorts seemed innocent enough. The black and white striped shirt she wore underneath reminded Natalia of a jail uniform, but… Natalia liked Bus Stop Girl. It was rare for her to get along with other people, but Bus Stop Girl seemed tolerable enough. Maybe… maybe Natalia could trust her…

"Well." Natalia looked away from the other girl and instead laid her eyes upon the building across the street, the large black lettering proclaiming it to be 'Heracles's Pet Shop.' "I was born in Belarus and lived there until I was about five. I have two siblings, but we lived with separate guardians. But on my fifth birthday, I moved with my brother in Russia. I don't remember why, exactly. But it was the first time I had ever met my brother." Natalia hesitated before continuing. "I… I loved him very much. We lived together with our mother and his father. When I was seven, my mother passed away from sickness. My step-father died soon after. My brother, who was ten at the time, and I had no one to take care of us. But luckily, we still had our older sister… she was seventeen. We managed to get to her house, where she was living on her own. My brother, who was big for his age, got a job, and helped her out as much as he could. When my sister was eighteen, we were able to move to the United States with our savings. She got a good job, with her skills, and she was able to manage for all three of us. As soon as my brother was of the age, he got a job, and I plan to get one as well, to help my sister as much as I possibly can. She-" Natalia stopped when she heard the discreet sound of sniffling coming from her right. She turned to look and raised an eyebrow at Bus Stop Girl, who had started blowing her nose. "Why are you crying?"

Bus Stop Girl blew one last time and put the tissue into a Ziploc she apparently kept in her purse. Natalia decided to refrain from commenting. Bus Stop Girl shook her head, her low pigtails swaying along with the movement of her head. "I was not crying. I just blew my nose."

"You were obviously crying."

"Was not!"

"You were."

Bus Stop Girl crossed her arms and stuck her lips out in a childish pout. "You were supposed to say, 'were too,' you know. That way we could start a childish argument that neither of us would win."

Before Natalia could do anything about it, she started laughing. "That sounds like something my boyfriend would say."

Natalia's statement seemed to perk Bus Stop Girl's curiosity again. "You have a boyfriend?"

Natalia felt a pang of pain in her heart thinking about Alfred, but it wasn't as strong as it had been at first. "I'm not sure if I will for much longer…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Bus Stop Girl knitted her dark eyebrows together in irritation.

"Well…" Natalia blushed slightly. What would Bus Stop Girl think about her if she told her the truth? The Belarusian girl shook her head softly. What did it matter? She had already told this stranger more than she had ever told anyone else. Neither Alfred nor any of her friends had ever heard anything about her past. No one even bothered to ask, except for Alfred on one occasion. Natalia refused to answer him and acted as if she hadn't heard him at all.

"Hey? Heyyy?" Bus Stop Girl frowned and poked the taller girl in the side. The reaction was unexpected. The blond girl squeaked loudly and shot up from her seat, the large purse she had held in her lap flying to the floor.

Natalia whipped around to face Bus Stop Girl in surprise, her violet-blue eyes wide.

"W-what did you do?" Natalia asked the brunette, whose eyes were as wide as hers, if not more.

"I… I just poked you. In the side." With her already outstretched finger, Bus Stop Girl pointed at the area where she had poked the other girl so innocently.

"Why did you poke me?"

"You were zoning out!" Bus Stop Girl crossed her tan arms in front of her chest as Natalia bent down to pick up her purse.

"I'm sorry," Natalia said as she took her seat on the blue bus stop bench again. "I didn't realize."

"Well… I guess it's okay. It's just that most of my friends tend to zone out a lot, and it gets annoying." Bus Stop Girl sighed and pressed her head against the back of the bench. She felt so tired when thinking about her friends. She loved them all, but they did get on her nerves from time to time. Today had been a rather bad day for her, considering that her Spanish friend Antonio had spent the entire lunch period moping over how his "precious Lovi" was angry at him for some absurd reason. Not only that, but her best friend Francis had tried taking advantage of Antonio, and then Lovino had come along, and he had gotten even more pissed… Basically, by the end of lunch, Antonio was still in one of his emo moods, Francis had to go to the nurse's office for a bloody nose and black eye, and her German friend Gilbert had laughed his ass off while she had nothing to enjoy but a major headache. As soon as school had ended, she had been ecstatic to finally go home, but she had received a call from her mom telling her that she couldn't pick her up. So, she had ended up on a bus to the hospital, to wait for her mom, who worked as a nurse. She had gotten sick of the hospital's depressing atmosphere and had decided to sit outside on the bus stop bench, where she still was. However, she wasn't alone anymore…

As she thought this, she sneaked a peek at the girl beside her. The blond had gone from looking at her and had shifter her gaze to the pet store across the street again. She had to admit, the girl really was beautiful… her long platinum blond hair seemed to be perfectly arranged, not a hair out of place. Her face was thin, but not too thin, her hair framing it nicely. Chocolate orbs trailed lower, analyzing the girl's sleek hands, and nails that seemed buffed to perfection. Now, she wasn't exactly "playing for the other team," as some would say, but she recognized a hot girl when she saw one. Now that she thought about it, she realized she didn't even know the girl's name!

"Hey," the brunette started, but was interrupted by a loud annoying chime coming from her purse. She sighed and dug through her purse, until she felt the cold feel of technology under her fingertips. She pulled her phone out and pressed it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"_Sey? Where are you? I'm off my shift, dearie."_

Sey rolled her eyes at the name. How many times had she told her mom not to call her "dearie" or "honey?" It was embarrassing, and she was no longer a child! She had just turned seventeen, thank you very much.

"Mom! Don't call me that! And I'm out here at the bus stop."

"_But you're my little girl! What else would I call you? And okay. Get to the car so I can take us home."_

"I'm seventeen, mom. And okay, I'll be right there." Sey hung up and put her cell phone back in her bag. She got up from the bench and stretched her arms out. She sighed in contentment and slung her bag around her shoulder. To her surprise, the other girl still had her sights across the street. Sey had guessed that overhearing the conversation with her mom would've made the other girl at least a bit interested, but apparently not.

Sey tapped the girl on the shoulder, who snapped her head in the brunette's direction. Sey raised an eyebrow but held out a hand anyway. "I have to go now, but it was nice meeting you."

Natalia eyed the hand warily but took it, a tiny smile starting to form at her lips. "It was nice meeting you as well."

Sey chuckled and turned to leave. She was halfway to her car when she realized she had forgotten to ask the girl her name. She spun around and dashed back to the bust stop, where the blond was still sitting.

"I forgot to ask you your name!" Sey panted to managed to get it out. She inhaled and exhaled heavily as the blond girl watched on, confused and amused at the same time.

"Natalia," she answered. "Natalia Arlovskaya."

Sey grinned. "Natalia? That's a nice name. I'm Sey! Sey Sesel!" The two girls exchanged a smile before the brunette ran off, leaving the blond alone, what she had originally wanted. But…

She didn't want to be alone anymore.

Natalia took her cell phone out of her purse and was ready to call someone when she saw she had five unread text messages, and three voicemails. She raised her eyebrows in surprise but decided to read the messages first. They were all from Alfred…

'_Nat! Where did u go?'_

'_Natia… seriously, where are you? We need to talk.'_

'_I'm sorry…'_

Natalia sighed. She was glad that Alfred had gone looking for her in the end, but she knew it wouldn't change the outcome. She knew what was happening, what had possibly already taken place. She closed the text message and called her voicemail next. A woman's monotonous voice came on, and she pressed in her code as she was ordered to. She listened to each voicemail, although her heart weakened with each one.

"_Nat? It's me. I went running after you, but… where did you go? We need to talk, okay?"_

"_Natalia... don't feel bad. Please don't. I think I know why you ran out like that… you realized it… didn't you? I'm sorry, I tried. I really tried. I just wasn't able to do it… I couldn't help it… even though I made a promise to you… it isn't your fault. It happened long before I met you… I tried to stop it…Where are you?"_

"_Natalia… I'm really sorry…"_

Natalia ignored the tears that flowed down her cheeks. Alfred was right. She had noticed it not long after they had started dating. She had hoped Alfred would be able to keep his promise, that he would be able to stop it… but she knew it was already too late. There was no stopping it now. Even if she tried, she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Alfred himself hadn't been able to stop it…

He had fallen in love with someone else.

Natalia had known the whole time. She had always seen it, but decided to ignore it, since she had believed Alfred would be able to keep his promise and cut off those feelings he had…

But he hadn't been able to.

She gritted her teeth. Why did it always happen to her? Whenever she fell in love with someone… they always fell for someone else! She put her face in her hands. Why were people always getting in the way? Or was it her own fault? Was she just too unlovable?

She had thought… she had thought that with Alfred it would be different. He had been the one to save her from suicide. He had been the one that had been there for her when no one else bothered to love her. He had been the person that had smiled at her, for her, after _that _had happened. Natalia had thought that he had actually cared. And maybe he did… but just not enough. Damn that Arthur! It was all his fault! He had been the one that had unknowingly taken Alfred's heart, when she, _his girlfriend_, had been unable to. He had gotten to Alfred first… What was even more irritating was that Arthur, that idiot, never even bothered to acknowledge Alfred's feelings! How could he not notice such obvious affection? The way Alfred touched him, teased him, saved those special smiles just for him… it was something that Natalia could only envy. Natalia had even tried to be nice to Arthur, but he was starting to infuriate her! How could a man be so dense? How could Alfred love such a fool instead of her?

Natalia wiped away some of her ears. There was nothing she could do about it. She already knew that. She had tried to steal Alfred's affections, with attempts to appeal to him with her female attributes and seduce him somehow. It never worked. Sure, she had gotten him to kiss her, but she knew it was out of obligation, pity. Those kisses meant nothing.

A light went off in Natalia's head. If she couldn't get Alfred to like her instead of Arthur, maybe she could find a way to make sure Arthur would never return Alfred's feelings? She could make Arthur fall in love… with someone else. As far as she knew, it wouldn't be that hard, since Arthur was straight. He had never shown any signs of being otherwise, which was possibly why Alfred had never made a move before he had met Natalia. No matter. If she could get Arthur to break Alfred's heart, then he would come crying to her, right?

Right?

Natalia looked at the phone wedged in between the side of her face and her hand, her spirits uplifted as the tears on her cheeks dried. She quickly hung up her voicemail and dialed another number. She tapped her foot impatiently until she finally heard the familiar voice of her sister on the other end.

"_Hello? Natalia?"_

"Hello, sister. Can you come pick me up now? And quickly, please."

"_Oh! Okay! I'll be over there in a little bit. I just need to say goodbye to Eduard…"_

"Thank you. I'll be waiting." Natalia slid the phone shut. Her mind was reeling with ideas, possible plans that could be of use to her. She couldn't help but feel something strange in the pit of her stomach, though. What was it? Well, she could think about that later. She had a lot of work to do…

* * *

**A/N: Darn, Seychelles was hard to write. Since she's never shown much, I worked with what I had. xD I hope to develop her character a bit more as the story goes on. And sorry if there's any mistakes in there! I'm really tired right now...**

**- Aha, seems like Arthur is gettin' desperate! Then again, who knows how Alfred and Natalia's relationship will last?**

**- Seniors(12th): Arthur, Alfred, Antonio, Gilbert, Francis/Juniors(11th): Sey, Lovino, Ludwig, Kiku/Sophomores(10th): Natalia, Feliciano**

** Any questions about ages or grades? Go ahead and ask~! :DD**

**- In this fic, Alfred is the good boy. Haha. (Now, his brother, on the other hand... Just kidding. :P Kind of. You'll see.)**

**-I chose Sey Sesel for Seychelle's human name, since I am not very creative when it comes to names. I google'd "Seychelles," which is where I found "Sesel."**

**- I feel that Natalia shouldn't be hated. She's just one of those people that feels unloved and doesn't know what to do, you know? :D**

**WELL, before I forget, happy holidays! I don't know if I'll update before Christmas so I'll just say it now. :D Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! I know not everyone celebrates, so, have a happy winter season! xD**

**You would be giving me an excellent present if you reviewed, you know that? ;D I just want to know what the readers think.~**


	4. Enter the Dane and Matthew's Secret

**A/N: Hey! This is MeinGottAwesome, formerly BakaKuroNeko11! Sorry for taking so long to update. I have my excuses. Such is life. I apologize. **

**I decided to cut the little story details I normally put here short. I mean, it's basically stuff you already know, so...yes.**

**Word count: 4,497**

**Disclaimer: Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya. **

* * *

Alfred finally returned to Arthur's hospital room, dead tried from searching the entire hospital. Natalia had been nowhere to be found! Alfred had even tried sending her texts and voicemails, but it was useless. The blond sighed and entered the room, comforted a bit by the fact that he would still be able to talk to his best friend…

Or maybe not. Alfred soon noticed the daunting fact that Arthur was asleep, the flower bouquet resting at his side. The vivid red hue of the roses contrasted Arthur's pale face so greatly; it was almost like looking at blood and snow. Alfred glanced out the doorway, and making sure that no one was around, closed the door shut. He would look it too, but the door handle didn't have a lock, much to Alfred's annoyance. Whatever, a closed door would have to do then.

Alfred grabbed the chair the chair that was next to Arthur's bed, the one he had been sitting on previously, and pushed it as close to it as possible. He plopped down in the chair and still felt as if he wasn't close enough. Alfred frowned and decided instead to get up and push the chair aside, then simply set himself on his knees, propping his elbows on the edge of Arthur's mattress. He hummed softly as he watched his friend sleep, a random calming tune. Arthur lay unfazed, his chest rising and falling from his soft breathing.

Alfred sighed and put his face in his hands. _'Shit.' _Of course, he would make a promise he knew he wouldn't even be able to keep. He loved Arthur, and had known for the longest time. There was nothing he could do to change that, but it wasn't as if he hadn't tried. He had promised an innocent girl that he would be able to put a stop to the feelings he had already developed in his heart and fall in love with her. What had he been thinking? There was no way he would be able to stop loving Arthur. It was like… Superman ditching Lois Lane for a random prostitute on the street! _It just wasn't right._ But Alfred had been caught in a moment of weakness. When he had seen that girl, Natalia… running out of her house, crying and hurt, of course he had helped her. It was his duty! But he had never expected that she would actually fall in love with him. He had wanted to aid her in getting out of her depression, to make her forget about her traumatic experiences, but… he couldn't help her find love. Alfred had known that, but still, he had made a promise to love Natalia and forget about Arthur… something so impossible, he shouldn't have even considered it. But damn his weakness, his desire, his _need_, to be a hero! Why couldn't he be a normal person and _not care_?

But he was Alfred F. Jones… and there was nothing he could do to change that.

Alfred sighed again and peeked out from the gaps in between his fingers at Arthur. Who could blame him for falling in love with his best friend? But no one really understood, did they? Especially not his parents…

_His parents. _

Alfred didn't like to admit it, but he knew there was another reason he had made that stupid promise to Natalia. Sure, his need to help her was a part of it, but there was something else that made him promise he'd stop loving Arthur… his fear. Alfred didn't like to be scared. It wasn't something he thought one should be proud of. But he was afraid… he was afraid of what his parents would say if they found out the truth. The truth that their loving eldest son was in love with his best friend, who was also a guy. Alfred didn't want to call himself "gay." He wasn't sure if he was. He had never paid much attention to girls, always caught up with sports. But still, Alfred could appreciate a girls' volleyball game, if there was a player who was… well endowed. But other than that, Alfred didn't care much about girls. Sure, they smelled nice, but the way some like to cling to guys and act stupid just to impress them really turned him off. He knew because he had met plenty of girls who had tried so on himself. That's why he liked Arthur… he was always himself, and was proud of his intelligence. Alfred chuckled. The Brit liked to show off his grades often… but Alfred would fight back with his skills in sports, which Arthur did not seem to have. But just because Alfred had fallen in love with him… that didn't make him gay, did it?

Alfred moved a hand to pet Arthur's hair, sweeping the messy bangs away from his face. His cheeks had a slightly rosy tint to them, as if he could hear Alfred's thoughts. Alfred was glad that was impossible, because it would _suck_ if Arthur found out his feelings. Alfred had been hiding them for years, and he intended to keep it that way. If he told Arthur how really felt, everything would just get weird between the two. Love wasn't worth risking such a friendship, one Alfred had always treasured, more than Arthur would ever know. Hell, Alfred doubted Arthur even rolled that way. He knew for a fact that Arthur had more experience in certain departments than he did, which wasn't very hard to believe, especially after witnessing Arthur's "punk" stage. But Alfred didn't really like to think about that period of their friendship…

"Knock, knock, don't care if you don't want me, because I'm coming in anyway~!" Alfred looked up at the sound of the familiar voice, and smiled at the tall figure standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Matt! What're ya doing here?" Alfred chuckled as his friend, Matthias, or Matt, scanned the hospital room, putting off his question for the moment.

"Hm…" Matthias finally set his eyes on Arthur, who was still asleep, Alfred's hand brushing his bangs. Alfred noticed where Matthias's gaze was set and quickly removed his hand, a slight blush playing at his cheeks. "Ahahaha!" Matthias laughed suddenly, and approached Alfred as the latter got off his knees and stood up. Matthias smiled his trademark smile, the one that some loved, others envied, and a few were annoyed by, and slapped Alfred hard on the back. "Well I heard Artie was in an accident, and since ya weren't at basketball practice, I was guessing you were probably here with him." Matthias pointed at the sports bag he had slung over his shoulder, as if to make some sort of point, one Alfred did not quite catch.

"Wait… basketball practice?"

"Yeah!" Matthias laughed again. "Remember, today was the first practice? Or did ya forget, huh?"

"Oh. _Oh!_" Alfred blinked in remembering the fact that he did indeed have basketball practice that day. Or, at least_, had_. He had been so overwhelmed with everything going on with Arthur and Natalia that he had completely forgotten about it! "Dude, sorry, I totally forgot!"

Matthias shrugged and smiled. "Nah, man, I understand. Your best friend got hurt. If it had been Norge, I would've freaked! Screw basketball, I've got to be there for my main man!"

Alfred nodded. Of course Matthias would know how he felt. Just like Alfred had Arthur, Matthias had… wait… "Norge"? Who the hell was "Norge"? "Uh, dude…. Who's that?"

Matthias tilted his head at Alfred. "What? Norge, you mean? I thought you knew him! We've been going to the same school for a couple of years now!"

"Wait, wait, what?" Alfred shook his head. "Dude, I'm not getting you…"

"What, really?" Denmark laughed and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open and showed Alfred a picture of Matthias himself, his arm around another teenage boy, considerably shorter, with short blond hair and bangs that swept along the right side of his face. The latter was obviously very annoyed…

"What the hell dude, that's Alexander."

"Well no duh."

"You were talking about some guy named Norge."

"Yeah, Alexander. You didn't know I called him that?"

"No."

"Where have you _been_, man?"

Alfred shrugged. Matthias had a point, though. Lately he hadn't been spending much time with his friends that _weren't _Arthur. Ever since summer vacation, he had practically been stuck to Arthur at the hip. But it wasn't his fault, though! Alfred would've been happy to spend some time with his other friends, but they all had other stuff going on. Even his own brother was too busy to spend time with him! Which Alfred found pretty weird, since Matthew had always been more of an indoor person… and well, not a loner, but he had never had many friends… Not like Alfred thought his bro wasn't awesome! He was, totally! But not as awesome as Alfred, of course.

"So, you need a ride?"

Alfred looked up at the Dane, puzzled. "What?"

"Well, how did you get to the hospital in the first place?" Matthias chuckled.

Alfred thought about it for a second before understanding what Matthias was getting at. "The ambulance… I rode in the ambulance…"

"So you need a ride."

"I need a ride."

Matthias patted Alfred's shoulder and motioned his head towards the door. "Let's go, then. We could kill some time at your house playing video games or something."

Alfred nodded but looked back at Arthur. He didn't just want to leave without letting Arthur know he had left… that wouldn't be very nice. But what could he do? He didn't have any paper or anything to write with… Alfred turned to Matthias. "Do you have something I could use to leave him a note or something?"

Matthias shook his head. "Nah, man. I left my backpack in the car."

"Huh…" Alfred looked to the door, where he saw a nurse, a young woman with her brown hair tied up in a bun, walking by. "Excuse me!" Alfred rushed to the hall. "Nurse?"

The woman looked up from her clipboard and smiled at Alfred. "Yes?"

Alfred rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I don't want to bother you, but do you think you can leave someone a message for me?"

The nurse pushed her glasses, which had been sliding off, up her nose. "A message?"

"Yes, ma'am! Ya see, I need to leave, but my friend, who is in that room, is asleep, and I don't want to him to wake up and wonder where I went. It'd be kinda rude, yanno?"

"Oh, I see. I think I'll be able to do that for you. What is your name, sir?"

"Alfred F. Jones, ma'am."

The nurse smiled and wrote something down on her clipboard. "There we go. I'll make sure to do so, Mr. Jones."

Alfred chuckled. "Thank you, it means a lot!"

The nurse nodded and went on her way, as Alfred returned to Arthur's room, where Matthias stood, texting like a madman. "Who are you texting, dude?"

"Mm, Norge. He's coming over to my house dinner, so I dunno if I can stay at your house for long."

Alfred nodded, not surprised. "It's okay, man, I'll spend some time with Mattie." Alfred shrugged. He really did need to spend more time with his little brother…

"Who's Mattie?" Matthias asked, slipping his cellphone back into his pocket.

Alfred sighed. "My brother, remember?"

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah! He's younger by one year, dude! He goes to our school! We've all had lunch together before!"

"…Doesn't ring a bell."

"Forget it." Alfred sighed again. Why did he even try? His brother Matthew was just not a very noticeable person, he guessed. To be honest, Alfred had forgotten about his own brother before too…more than once… Alfred shook his head. What was he thinking about again? Eh, whatever.

"So, dude, let's go. I want to play some games at your house before Norge gets to my house for dinner." Matthias nodded and glanced back at Arthur, who was still asleep. "Hope he gets better!" he said, before heading out of the room. Alfred nodded his head and started to follow before looking back at Arthur's resting figure.

"Um, dude, I'll be there in a bit. I gotta do something first."

"'Kay." Matthias left without another word, as he snuck his phone out of his pocket again, smiling at the screen.

Alfred made sure Matthias was out of sight before he tiptoed back to the side of Arthur's bed. "Hey, Artie," he whispered, patting the other teen's forehead softly, "I gotta go, man. But don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow. A hero can't leave his…damsel in distress all alone in their time of need!" He chuckled softly. Alfred swept his eyes around him, making sure no one was around to catch him in the act, before kissing his sleeping friend on the cheek. "Sleep tight, bud. Feel better. I order you to." He patted Arthur's forehead again before finally leaving the hospital, glancing back at Arthur's room every couple of seconds.

* * *

Arthur sat up in his bed, so quickly he felt himself get slightly lightheaded. But that didn't affect the blood that was rushing to his cheeks, or the way his heart was beating way more than it should be. He put his hand to his red cheek, the one Alfred had just placed his lips upon not so long ago.

'_What was that?'_

* * *

Matthew sighed as he saw his brother and his tall Danish friend enter the house from the view of his upstairs bedroom window. He looked at the other person that was currently in his room, rolling around like a tumbleweed on his bed. Matthew rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Really, Gilbert? Stop that. And my brother's here. You'll have to sneak out from the back again."

The rolling figure, also known as Gilbert Beilschmidt, immediately stopped and groaned. "Really? Already? I thought he was going to be at the hospital at little Artie's side for like, ever." The albino teen sat up on Matthew's bed, annoyed. "We didn't even have any real fun yet!"

Matthew blushed slightly and shook his head. "No, no 'real fun.' We have very different ideas of 'real fun,' Gilbert. You know that." Matthew approached the bed and plopped down next to Gilbert, who grinned and scooted closer.

"You know what I mean, Birdie." Gilbert raised his eyebrows suggestively, causing Matthew to blush harder and push him away. Gilbert whined as he fell off the bed, his head hitting the carpeted ground roughly. "Damn, Birdie!" Gilbert sat up again and rubbed his head, wincing when he felt the soft bump that had formed there.

Matthew chuckled and shrugged. "Your fault, Gil." Gilbert growled and shot up from the floor and charged at Matthew, who shrieked out in surprise. They both rolled around the bed for a moment, laughing as they held each other close. Their laughter stopped when they heard a distinctive voice calling out from downstairs.

"Mattie! I'm home, dude!"

"D-dammit!" Matthew quickly detangled himself from Gilbert and shot off the bed, leaving Gilbert astounded yet again at his boyfriend's quick reflexes. Matthew grabbed Gilbert's boots from their spot under his desk at thrust them at him, causing Gilbert to almost topple over and hit his head against the headrest. "Gil! You have to get out of here!"

Gilbert shook his head as he slid his legs over the side of the mattress and began putting on his combat boots. "Mattie, I don't get why you still want to hide this from your brother."

Matthew sighed as he sat down next to where Gilbert was still tying his shoes. "I've already told you why. One, my brother doesn't like you." Gilbert groaned and rolled his eyes at this. He wasn't exactly a big fan of Alfred, either. All that goody two-shoes and "I'm the hero!" shit sickened him. And apparently Alfred wasn't very big on Gilbert's attitude, either. As if Gilbert really cared.

"Two, my brother can't keep a secret," Matthew continued. "If he finds out, if he tells our parents, then… who knows what will happen…" Gilbert glanced at Matthew, who had shifted his gaze down to the floor. "You've met my parents, Gilbert. You know how they can be. And if… if they find out what's between us…I'm afraid of what they'll do…" Matthew confessed. Gilbert narrowed his eyes. Oh boy, did he know Matthew's parents. They weren't complete assholes or anything like that. But they were kind of strict, and well, very "traditional." Gilbert sighed and patted Matthew's head.

"It's okay, Birdie. Even if that happens, I'm not letting them take you away from me." Matthew looked up at Gilbert, a sad smile on his lips.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Gil…thanks. Really." Matthew rested his head against Gilbert's shoulder, who wrapped an arm around him.

"Mattie! Come play some games with us, dude!" Alfred called again. Matthew jumped and moved away from Gilbert, who resumed tying his boots.

"So I just sneak out the back door again, right?"

"Yes… I'll go check that the coast is clear." Gilbert nodded as Matthew slid out of the room, closing the door shut behind him. Matthew quietly stepped down the stairs, coming to a light stop at the bottom of the staircase. He quickly stepped into the living room, hiding behind the large houseplant their mother had insisted on buying, even after the complaints from his father and brother. He watched as his older brother and his friend, Matthias, sat on the couch playing their video games, their backs to him. Since they hadn't heard him and every so often a scream or grunt came from one of them, he was convinced that they were distracted enough. Matthew nodded to himself and hurriedly returned to his room, where Gilbert was walking around aimlessly.

"You can go. They're distracted playing their video games. Make sure to be quiet." Matthew whispered, although he was sure his brother wouldn't be able to hear him at all, since he and Matthias had already started full-on screaming downstairs.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "How many times have I done this now? Gott, don't worry about it, Birdie…I got this." Gilbert grinned at Matthew, who laughed in return.

"Okay, fine… but just be careful!"

Gilbert walked to Matthew and grabbed ahold of his hands, causing Matthew to blush and raise his eyebrows in surprise. Gilbert smirked as he closed in and pressed his lips to Matthew's unprepared ones softly, still smiling into the kiss. By the time Matthew was ready to respond, Gilbert had moved away and had let go of his hands.

"See ya at school, Birdie." He laughed, as he exited the room, leaving Matthew reassured and annoyed at the same time for not being able to finish that kiss. Matthew chuckled to himself before he slid onto his bed and gazed out his window, to make sure he saw Gilbert leave the house and hop run to where he had hid his car.

Alfred's tongue stuck out slightly as he concentrated on kicking Matthias's ass at the video game they were currently playing. He shot up from the couch, dropping the bowl of popcorn that had been resting on his lap, as he finally destroyed Matthias's last battle ship. "Another win for the hero!" he shouted, as the other boy groaned and threw his controller to the floor.

"That was just luck, man! Any other day and I would have totally taken you down!" Matthias reached into a bag of cheese-flavored chips and shoved a handful into his mouth, as Alfred just shook his head.

"Nah, dude! This win was completely legit!" Alfred bent down and picked up some popcorn that had fallen from the overturned bowl, popping it into his mouth.

Matthias rolled his eyes. "Whatever, man. But if Norge asks, I kicked your ass."

Alfred laughed. "Oh yeah? Why does it matter to him whether I kicked your ass or not?"

"Because! I'm like, perfect in his eyes!"

"Pfft! Sure you are."

"…So you see it too?" Matthias's tone turned serious, as Alfred stuffed more popcorn into his mouth. Alfred looked at Matthias with a confused look. A bit surprising, since Matthias was usually the more…oblivious, of the two. "Norge…Alexander totally loves me, man."

Alfred almost spit out the chewed up pieces of popped corn that he had held in his mouth. "...What?" Alfred asked, close to bursting into laughter.

Matthias nodded solemnly. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure. He is head over heels for me."

Alfred could hold it in no longer and started laughing heavily, clutching at his stomach as he did so. Matthias frowned as he watched Alfred laugh. "What are you laughing about? This is a serious issue!"

Alfred wiped a single tear from his eyes and tried to control himself. "…Okay, okay. But where the hell did you get this from? I mean, personally, it looks more like Alex hates you than anything else."

Matthias scoffed in disbelief. "Where did you get _that_ from?"

Alfred shrugged. It seemed kind of obvious to him, actually. Whenever Alfred spent time with Alexander and Matthias, Matthias would end up physically hurt in some way…And Alfred had nothing to do with it. Plus, Alexander never seemed to care for anything that Matthias said, so Alfred was really wondering what the hell Matthias was on to get the idea that his friend was in love with him. Although, Alfred wasn't sure what would end up happening if Alexander really did like Matthias that way. Alfred had known the Dane for most of his life, and he could easily say that Matthias was %100 straight, without a second thought. Then again, Alexander had known Matthias even longer, so he probably assumed the same. But… if Alexander _did _love Matthias, then he knew how Alfred felt. Falling in love with your best friend was not an easy thing to handle. Alfred mulled it over and turned back to Matthias, who seemed to be deep in thought. Probably about the my-bff-loves-me thing. Or maybe he had forgotten where he left his car keys. You never knew with Matthias…

"Hey, Matthias," Alfred started, scratching the back of his head weakly, "Um… what would you do if Alex really was in love with you?"

Matthias looked up from his thinking pose and looked Alfred straight in the eye. The latter felt a bit nervous, having never seen such a serious expression on the Dane's face before.

"I don't know what I'd do," Matthias admitted, placing his head in his hands. Alfred's eyes widened in surprise. He had never seen Matthias in such a pose, either. It just didn't fit him, the larger than life, hyper guy he was. "But," Matthias continued, "he's been my best friend for most of my life. I wouldn't be able to just stop being friends with him if he did feel like that for me. But I wouldn't be able to ignore it. That would just be cruel and unfair to him…"

"...Mm. Yeah." Alfred shrugged again. He really didn't know what to say. His situation was too close to Alexander's… well, if he really did love Matthias that way, which Alfred still doubted.

Both boys were taken by surprise when Matthias's cellphone vibrated loudly from its position on the floor, right next to the bowl of overturned popcorn. Alfred picked it up, resisting the urge to see who was calling, and handed it to Matthias, who swiftly opened it.

"'Ello? Oh, hey Norge…" Matthias sent Alfred a despaired look, causing Alfred to helplessly shrug again. "Mm, yeah, I'm at Al's house. Oh, seriously? Well you know Erik's always welcome! He's like my brother. I know he's your brother! I'm just saying, because me and you are like bros, and since he's _your_ bro- Norge? Alex? Alexander?" Matthias shut his phone and laughed. "He must've lost signal or something!"

Alfred nodded, although it seemed more like Alexander had hung up…but he wasn't going to say anything. "Yeah, probably!"

Matthias put away his phone and got up from the couch. He stretched out his arms and yawned. "Damn, I'm tired. But Norge and his bro are coming over for dinner later, and I have to cook something awesome. Thanks for the good time, man."

Alfred scoffed and rolled his eyes. "That's what she said!"

Matthias chuckled and grabbed his sports bag from its resting place beside the fairly new couch. He slung it over his shoulder as Alfred stood up himself.

"You have fun cooking dinner for those two."

"Eh, I'll try!" Matthias nodded as he walked to the front door, Alfred on his heel. "I'm used to just cooking for myself, and now I have someone coming over for dinner for once, and well, what if they hate what I cook or something? What will I do then?"

"Don't worry man, you'll be fine," Alfred assured him, as he held the front door open. He wanted to sympathize with Matthias, but he couldn't exactly. Unlike Matthias who had been living on his own for about two years now, Alfred had lived with his own family all his life. He didn't have to cook his own food or keep the house clean on his own, unlike Matthias, who had left his parent's house for his own reasons.

Matthias grinned. "Thanks." He extended his clenched fist out towards Alfred, who smiled and returned the secret handshake they had come up with in their first year of middle school.

"Later, bro!" Matthias called out, as he walked out to his car and finally left for his own home. Alfred laughed to himself as he closed the door shut, when a thought came to mind.

Matthew never came down to play with them!

Alfred frowned as he headed upstairs to his brother's bedroom, distinctive from the rest of the rooms in the house as his had a large red maple leaf sticker on the door. Alfred rolled his eyes, as he always did when he saw it. He'd never understand why his brother was just so proud to have been born in Canada. He entered the room without bothering to knock, nearly scaring his brother, who had been on his bed reading, half to death.

"Mattie! I thought you were gonna come play games with us? You never showed up!" Alfred whined. Matthew rolled his eyes.

"Well at first I was going to. But then I thought, they're not going to remember anyway, so I decided to stay up here. Not like it made a difference." Matthew shrugged and turned back to his book, deciding that the best way to get Alfred to leave was by ignoring him. He was correct, as a couple of minutes later Alfred got bored and returned to his video games downstairs. Matthew sighed. His brother never changed.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading! I shall try to update as soon as possible. I won't make any promises as to when exactly, though. If you spot any mistakes, please tell me! :D**


	5. An Interlude

**A/N: First off, sorry for such a short chapter. I have my reasons for it's short length and why it's taken so long, but they're pretty much just excuses. Anyway. Also, sorry, about uploading this chapter twice. I had something that needed to be fixed. Enjoy this...interlude!**

**Word count: 1,398**

* * *

Matthias unlocked the door and stepped into his apartment. There was no one inside. Of course. There never was.

He let his bag slide off his bag and onto the floor, right next to mismatched pairs of shoes and a jacket or two. Matthias yawned and stepped into his kitchen, which, in one word, was a mess. The Dane searched through his fridge for anything he could mix up and out into a pan to make something edible. And hopefully delicious…

About an hour of playing with food later, the sound of the doorbell made Matthias look up from his chicken creation…thing.

"Oh, damn, are they here already?" Matthias took his creation out of the oven and tossed it onto the closest plate he could find that was not covered in dried filth. "I'm coming!" he called. He wiped his hands on his shirt and headed to the door, avoiding the random rubble scattered on his floor. He pulled the door open and revealed his awaited visitors. The older of the brothers, Alexander, was holding a large bowl of something, hidden by a layer of aluminum foil. The younger brother, Erik, also held something in his hands, albeit of a smaller size.

Matthias tilted his head in confusion. "Hey, Norge, Erik…Why'd you bring food? I thought I was gonna make ya guys dinner?"

Alexander just shook his head while Erik rolled his eyes. "As if we'd ever eat something you made." Alexander answered. Erik analyzed the room quickly and shivered slightly.

"Especially not something that you made in _this_ environment."

Matthias chuckled as the brothers entered his apartment. "Whadd'ya mean? I don't get you guys~" Alexander shook his head again and put the bowl of food he had brought along with him on the table, Erik following his lead. Alexander was a bit surprised that he could actually see the dining table at all. Ever since Matthias had moved out of his parent's house, Alexander hadn't visited often, since he knew how messy the other boy was when he didn't have someone to clean up after him. Which made Alexander wonder why Matthias had even moved out at all. But it was a pointless pondering. He fully knew the reason why, and there was nothing to wonder about.

Matthias chuckled as he removed the foil hastily, dying from curiosity. He peeked in the bowl while Erik roamed the area, in search of a place to sit and Alexander simply stayed in his spot, lost in his thoughts. "So when are we gonna eat? I'm starving, man!"

Alexander shook off his thoughts and looked over at Matthias, who was trying to replace the aluminum foil, only ripping it as he did so. Alexander shrugged. "Well this is your home. Shouldn't you be the one who announces dinnertime?"

"Oh! You're so right! So let's eat!" Matthias ripped off the aluminum foil off the bowls yet again, and glanced at the food before running to the kitchen. "We need plates, plates! Uh….Hey, do you guys mind if I go out to buy some paper plates?"

Erik sighed while Alexander chuckled to himself. Matthias was still the same boy he had met all those years ago…

* * *

"_So this is your new home, kids!" Alexander looked at the big house in front of him, amazed that such a large house existed. Then again, being only eight years old, everything seemed huge compared to him. He looked at his little brother beside him, who was practically clinging to his arm. Alexander smiled a bit, quickly replacing it with his familiar frown. His little brother was so cute…_

"_Well boys! I'll get our stuff inside! I'll need you two to play out here for a while I get some heavy stuff in, okay?" Alexander's father smiled down at his two sons, who simply nodded. Their mother was already inside, probably planning out where she wanted everything to go. She seemed to enjoy doing that. She seemed to be very controlling of everything, actually….She had even been the one to decide that they were going to move. It had cost of a lot of work, but she had made it happen. So there they were, in a strange town, not knowing anyone in the area. "Well we can make friends!" is what she had said….But Alexander knew he wasn't very good with people. Even at his young age, he knew he was a bit off-putting. His personality often scared people away…But that's why he had his brother, right?_

_Alexander looked down at his brother, who was still clinging to him. "Hey, Erik. Papa says we have to play outside. How about we check out our new backyard?"_

_Erik simply nodded, allowing his brother to lead him out to the backyard. Walking around the side of the house, Alexander looked around in slight awe. It was just so big! Back at their old home, there had barely been enough space for the brothers to even play a compacted game of catch. Erik let go of his brother's hand and wandered off to the middle of the yard, taking a seat in the grass. Alexander went his own way and decided to walk alongside the tall white fence that separated their yard from the neighbor's, trailing his little hand against the wooden surface. He looked up at the top of the fence, which actually wasn't very high up at all…Alexander was just short. He refused to admit it._

_Alexander stopped, hearing something from the other side of the fence. It was like a small grunt, followed by some kicking sounds. It sounded almost as if someone was trying to climb the fence… No, someone was definitely climbing the fence somehow, as the sounds of kicking got higher and higher up… Alexander glanced up at the top of the fence just in time to see a boy tumbling over….and falling right on top of him._

"_H-hey! You! Random stranger boy! Get off me!" Alexander flailed, buried under the other boy's weight. The other boy laughed, not bothering to move._

"_Target accomplished! New friend seized!" the boy raised his fist in victory, as Erik ran over to the two. Alexander squirmed, trying to get a good look at his attacker. He would have to memorize the face. _

"_Get off my big brother!" Erik tried pushing the boy off, to no avail. He was too weak, and the boy was at least a year or so older…and he was definitely a lot bigger. The boy chuckled and finally climbed off Alexander, plopping onto the ground. He crossed his legs and yawned, exaggerating his actions greatly. _

"_You guys are boring. I was expecting some action, you know! Like..like…a big fight or somethin'!" The boy scratched the back of his head and grinned. "But anyway, hey!"_

_Erik glared at the boy as Alexander got up from the ground and smacked the boy upside the head. "You are unbelievably rude. You just jumped me, and you haven't even bothered introducing yourself!"_

"_Heeey! That hurt, man! ….For a small kid, you're kinda strong." The boy laughed again, a sound which was really starting to get on Alexander's nerves. "I'm Matthias! Your new neighbor and best bud for life~!"_

* * *

Matthias had to admit the dinner hadn't gone as he had planned, but it hadn't been that bad! After he had gone out to the store to pick up some paper plates, he, Alex, and Erik had been an able to enjoy a good meal prepared by the brothers' mother. Damn, could that woman cook.

He sighed and looked around his room. He really needed to clean it up…Hell, he needed to clean everything up. But Matthias just wasn't a clean person. He created messes everywhere, it was like his job. He personally didn't mind it at all. But other people did… Alex hadn't hesitated in showing his disgust. But it was okay, he was Norge after all…Matthias chuckled. The nickname had managed to stick around. It was just a thing he had wanted to call Alex after Matthias found out about his Norwegian roots…Alexander had an interesting family.

..Alexander himself was too interesting. Even though Matthias had known him for most of his life, it was as if each time they were together Matthias learned something new. Matthias never got bored with Alex, and he enjoyed that. They were friends. Best friends…

And only friends, right?

* * *

**A/N: Heh. Where did the USUK go, right? Don't worry, I'll try and serve it up as soon as I can. Until next time, dears!**


End file.
